Green the Bandit
by kingsmill77
Summary: After a long life, Green recounts his tale of his final days and the story of how he died. First in a series check every now and then for updates but i have to work around school.
1. Warrior of the Watch

**A/N** By the way. I don't own anything appart from the characters. (I did make up the Dwemer Ruin although from fragments of other ruins, Black Reach is one.)

I like writing and i plan to continue with the Green series. So if you could review the story that would be great but if you could at the end write whether you'd like me to write about a) Green's Childhood b) Green's Relationship with Steffilka or c) Green's life in the College. My personal favorite is b, but i don't mind whatever.

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><p>It was cold. No surprise there, it's always cold in the northern parts of Skyrim and there wasn't a damned thing I could do about it.<p>

I pulled off the cured fox pelt that I curled up in for the night, and went about checking my backpack, making sure no young newcomers thought to better themselves by pilfering my goods. I was relieved when I unwrapped the linen cloth on top of my backpack to discover my Orcish bow in exactly the same position I left it, the string curled in an intricate pattern that was difficult to replicate so I'd know if someone had touched it. It had taken me over 9 years of banditry to gain this jewel and I was constantly aware that other jealous marksmen of the troop could make themselves forget the honour code that our piratical group held. We were a nomadic band of outlaws made homeless from our last place of rest 8 months ago by a rapid increase of Venomfang Skeever, and were now heading northward to find a new abode.

I took the bow and the string and shoved the string into my jerkin, no sense in ruining the bow by stringing just yet. Quickly checking through the rest of the pack I hauled it onto my shoulders and made sure I could reach my arrows easily. Walking around the campsite I saw that I was the only one up who wasn't on watch. I went to the dying fire, which was no more than a few embers and stoked it up for breakfast.

I put a pan of water over the fire and walked over to the female side of the encampment, Picking up a bucket of frozen water as I went. I passed through the undulating heaps that were the females' lithe bodies and sought out the bedroll that had a distinctive stripe of yellow fur down the side. I found it and pulled back the covers, revealing the face of my dreams, Illianda. She is the only other Bosmer, wood elf, in the camp, being one myself, and the subject of my affections, she also happened to be the camp cook and while she was deadly with a dagger, wasn't expected to fight in raids or defense. I looked upon her face, tender and even as every Bosmer's is. I ran the back of my hand over her cheek and traced the whorls of her war paint that Skyla, a large Nordic Women, had put on Illianda after she had saved her life. The moment quickly passed and I carried on with my original business, getting breakfast. I took the bucket of frozen water and chipped some of the ice out into my hand, once I had a fistful I chucked it onto Illianda's face, laughing quietly as she tensed up in her bedroll and then scrunched up her face as the coldness of the ice seeped into her skin.

She quickly got ready, packing her bedroll and possessions she had out the night before into her shoulder bag and joined me next to the fire. She was wearing a low cut blouse of deep green fabric and a full length skirt that concealed heavy fur boots that she wore. As she neared she gazed into my purple-black eyes and I in turn was entrapped by her golden ones, the staring continued for a while neither of us moving until the pan of water I had previously put on the fire started to bubble, lifting her gaze from me and turned to the pot as she deftly took a satchel out from beneath a bench and pulled out a handful of tea leaves which she cast into the pot, I was about to ask if she needed any help but then she started to hum an old Bosmer nursery rhyme a signal that all was well and it would do well not to disturb her.

Taking my leave I went to the camp perimeter to see what the lookouts had been noticing. Climbing a snowy crag I came to the western lookout by far the best post to be situated in this campsite, not on the path of any potential hostiles but some brilliant views and ample drama to be entertained by. As I came up the current lookout, a human named Dard, signalled for me to be quiet and come up. Intrigued I scrambled up the last few metres of cliff and sat next to him on the ledge.

"Look. Below us and to the right, Bears." Dard said to me in a hushed voice pointing to the area he described. Following his fingers I could indeed see a couple of large black bears on a rocky ledge jutting out from the mountain opposite us doing their best to annihilate each other. I quickly calculated the ease that it would take to kill the bear that survived, go down there and get back with the loot, my odds were good if Drad stayed at the top to catch the meat and pelts when I chucked them up to him I could scramble up the slope no problem.

With this in mind I told my plan to Drad. He seemed pleased with the idea, so I quickly took out the string from my tunic and with a considerable effort strung my bow. I tested the strength and when I was convinced it wasn't going to snap I took out 4 steel arrows and laid them in a nook formed by the rock. Next I took a small vial that was stoppered with cork and sealed with wax, this was one of the various potions I kept in my pack and this variety was very detrimental to one's health, once the vial was open I emptied the contents onto the arrow tips, the poison washed over the arrow tips and a few drops fell into the snow, turning the colour from a pure white to a pale green.

Looking back up at the fight I could see it was nearing its conclusion, the larger bear was more powerful but the younger was more nimble, as the larger bear reared up roaring at the younger bear getting ready to smash it into the ground. The younger bear ran up to it and leapt onto the older bear. The younger bear then stepped away and let drop a hunk of flesh from its jaw and you could see the older bear was missing its throat.

This is where I came in, nocking the arrow into the bow I forced myself into the state of calm that every good marksman found himself in just before a shot, when I reached the state of calm I looked down the shaft of the arrow and saw the bear that was now licking its wounds, once I found it and was certain it wouldn't move I lifted the bow up a bit and let loose the arrow, unlike many other marksmen in the camp I knew how to fletch my arrows just right and how it worked with the bow, this knowledge meant that no sound came from the arrow as it slid through the air, I didn't have time to see if the arrow hit because I was already reaching for the next arrow, going through the motions efficiently and calmly, I knew I hit the bear because of the large cheer that Drad made behind me, still I drew back the bowstring with the poisoned arrow and looked down it's shaft at the bear, which was lying in a heap blood running into the fur around it's ruined eye where the arrow struck, seeing this I lowered my bow and placed the arrow with the other two that were there.

Nodding to Drad I unstrung my bow and laid it next to the arrows string tucked once again next to my chest. I took my pack off and laid it over the bow and arrows keeping them from rolling away should a sudden wind come up. I turned to Drad and smiled cheekily at him before jumping off the cliff backwards. I had always been agile like most Bosmer, and instead of just walking to the rocky balcony I was leaping from rock to rock, in a few seconds I reached the ledge where the two dead bears, I took out my large skinning knife from my boot and in about ten minutes both of the bear skins had been removed. I quickly washed my skinning knife in the snow and took out my dagger from my other boot. The skinless carcasses were prime specimens with plenty of meat on both, I took ten steaks from each, though there was still a lot of meat that some young member to come down to pick over. Laden with fur and meat I went back to the crag on which Drad was sitting, I knew there was no way I'd get up cliff edge carrying these heavy burdens so I threw them up to Drad, first the steaks one at a time, which he caught most of the time, then I folded the pelts into one another creating a dense clump of fur, and chucked them up as well, Drad then started to unfold them and placed the meat inside like a knapsack, and when I pulled myself on top the cliff he threw one of the sacks at me.

Taking my stuff and the bear sack. I followed him to camp, by now everyone was up and ready and was simply waiting on breakfast. As we walked in a great cheer rose from the far side of the fire and the flames obscured who it was.

"Greetings! What has our fine warriors of the watch brought us today!" boomed the voice and it was instantly recognisable as Jorrsk EarthenVoice, our leader. The large Nord rose up and outstretched his muscled arms. In response both Drad and I took the bear sack we were each holding and threw them at him. In one swift movement he caught both, one with each arm. Undoing the knots in the top he dropped the steaks into a wide shallow bowl, a low grumble of approval came from the rest of the camp when the last dropped out. Jorrsk then took the pelts and threw them to an Argonian woman who had come up. She was called T'ss the only Argonian in the camp and the best one to go to if you needed pelts cured or turned into leather. T'ss hissed at Jorrsk who laughed at the sight but her facial spikes rose up, a sign that she too was grinning. She walked off with the pelts to the tanning board and set about doing her work.

"There's more meat," I said loudly to Jorrsk, who was staring wistfully at T'ss. "There was only so much Drad and I could carry."

"Very well, Red, Warrick, go with Drad to find these bears and bring back all the meat you can get." He replied and a large Redguard, that was red, and an Imperial, Warrick, stood up and left with Drad.

"Green, follow me," Jorrsk said in a lower voice than usual.

Since that was my name, I followed him as he walked around the fire and over to his command tent. As he neared the entrance to his tent, he stopped and turned around to the rest of the camp and drew in a large breath so he could be heard all over the camp.

"WE LEAVE WHEN THE SUN RISES!" he said with earth-shattering force and all members of the camp turned to Jorrsk as he said it.

It was already light and if we had been on a plain the sun would have already risen, but as it was we were in northern Skyrim and in the middle of a mountain pass. So we had about another half hour left before the sun showed itself.

He went through the flap in the tent and I was greeted with real warmth for once, going inside I could see a brazier of coals sitting in the middle, quietly exuding heat that was trapped by the tent making it a comfortable temperature unlike any other part of the camp where it was either too cold or too hot next to the campfire. When we were both in, Jorrsk sat on his throne, it wasn't much, just some pieces of wood but draped with furs to hide its vulnerability, he gestured for me to take his study chair. When I went to his desk I saw his plans, the reason why he got a heated tent and a throne whilst the rest of us froze outside. The amount of sums that were going on in the sheet of paper was incredible, keeping 38 men and women going strong took a lot of arithmetic it seemed. Taking the chair and turning it so it was facing Jorrsk, I slumped into it before sitting upright to listen to Jorrsk.

"Listen, Green, first I want to say that I'm very pleased that you got that meat now we have something for tomorrow as well. But that wasn't what I took you in here to talk about it is something to do with a personal nature. It's about T'ss."

I was taken aback by this. Jorrsk had never made his affection clear to T'ss and some of the more insensitive people thought that Jorrsk was just intrigued by the Argonian physique than her as a person. But now he was actually saying to me that he had feeling for her.

"What about T'ss," I said scarcely believing what was about to happen.

"You understand this cannot go further than the fabric of this tent," Jorrsk said, with a worried expression on his face. His voice and stature in the chair was much more timid, whereas before he had talked to me as an equal or better, he now was asking for guidance like a young one new to the world

I nodded not willing to tell him that everyone in camp already knew.

"Well ever since she first joined the camp, I always seemed to get distracted by her and recently she seemed to be reacting to me in a weird manner and I just can't fathom it." He said, relief infusing his face as he got his confession out. "I realise now that I have deep feelings for her and I really don't know what to do about them, so I thought you might help considering you're the oldest in the camp."

"Save Illianda yes I am the oldest. I celebrated my 108th birthday 3 months ago. And I take it Jorrsk, you do know how argonians express their feelings yes?" I asked, with a sneaky suspicion of why this was so difficult.

"Um. Don't they just express them like normal humans do?" He said, doubt crossing his mind.

"Cyrodilic ones yes, but T'ss came straight from Black Marsh. The Argonians find it difficult to express themselves facially as they lack the number of face muscles that elves and humans do. The Argonians rely on other ways, like changing their skin colour, if you notice T'ss always changes her skin colour slightly when near, from a green to a soft lilac. Another way is moving the face spikes to express emotion, whenever you and T'ss interact together he spikes always lift up and fan out, this can be taken two ways the first is she is angry or scared but this isn't the case as you need to couple that with the skin colour which there isn't. The second is that she is trying to make herself as impressive as she can for a potential mate."

With this closing remark, Jorrsk looked sceptical and said "how do you know this?"

"I've only been a bandit for 12 years and 3 months, before I was a bard, a priest, a scholar and much more besides. I have lived a long life but there are still many things I wish to do, that should answer your question." I said. As I spoke, the weight of all those years that I had mentioned came back to me and I sagged in the seat from the strain.

"So you're telling me that she has strong feelings towards me," Jorrsk said, the hope evident in his voice and eyes.

"Of course, if she were a human you would've probably been married by now," I said forcing myself to laugh in order to stop myself from brooding over my life, and bring myself back to the present and stop dwelling in the past.

"Well in that case, thank you, I didn't know what to do and you helped. I am indebted to you." Jorrsk sighed, his face brighter than it had been for days. "I don't suppose when you leave you could get T'ss to come in; I'll need to make amends for the months of naivety on my behalf."

I stood up and nodded, then turned to leave the tent and swept the flap aside and walked into the cold.

After leaving the tent I strode purposely to the campfire where Illianda was serving Porridge with meat to the camp's inhabitants. She looked at me quizzically as I approached the queue and skipped a dozen people to where T'ss was waiting. I stepped up next to her and touched her lightly on her upper arm to get her attention. She turned towards me irritation showing by the oscillation of her facial spikes.

I leaned into her and whispered into her ear hole "Jorrsk would like to see you at your earliest convenience to discuss certain personal matters."

As I said this she tensed up and her skin went to lilac to red to green to lilac again, making it evident of her passion and embarrassment. She dropped her bowl that she had been carrying and with all haste that she could while maintaining her dignity went over to the tent and disappeared inside.

I picked up the discarded bowl and stuffed it into her pack and brought one out of my own from my pack and went into the queue. When I got to Illianda she didn't give me my portion but instead motioned for me to sit next to her and we both ate out of the cooking pot. Whilst we ate I told her everything that had happened in the tent and why T'ss was in the tent with Jorrsk.

"That is good, I don't think I've ever seen T'ss happier in camp," Illianda said as she washed the pot out. "T'ss is very important to me. She, Steffilka and I are the only non-human females in camp if you didn't know and we've built up a kinship that is rather tight."

"Hmm. It will be difficult for them, I don't know of a single Human Argonian couple in all the lands. It will be very difficult indeed. Especially since Jorrsk can't tell many of the emotions that play across T'ss's face."

"Oh yes, you'll have to teach Jorrsk how to interpret T'ss's emotion. Do you want the last of the tea?" She asked.

I shook my head and she shrugged drinking the last of the brown liquid, then scooped up the tea leaves from the pan to chew on later.

"Or we could just leave them to it." I suggested.

Illianda was about to reply but was interrupted by Jorrsk coming out of the tent with T'ss.

"WE'RE LEAVING, EVERYTHING ON THE PACK HORSES!" he bellowed. Then he went back into conversation with T'ss.

The camp bustled as the last of the bedrolls were stored on the pack horses and everyone got ready to leave.

The next 20 minutes were a blur but then we were setting off down the mountain pass, I was next Illianda who was leading a pack horse and Jorrsk and T'ss was in front of me in their own little world not caring of anything but each other.


	2. Assault in the valley

As we walked up the pass the day got brighter still and everyone's spirits were high. After an hour or so the scouts returned and reported nothing yet to be seen or heard, I didn't see much of the bandits after that because I was sent on scout duty instead, I was given the job of covering the rear, a job most people wanted as it was easy and not very strenuous, I spent the time searching for herbs and other trinkets in the melting snow, every now and then looking down the pass for anything unnatural.

I had just scaled a small cliff on the edge of the pass as I had seen a small grove of Deathbells clustered in an alcove when I saw something, my sharp eyes picking out small details. There was a large dust cloud fanning out in the distance my eyes detecting at least thirty men, all on horseback. Seeing this I rushed from the cliff back to the group who were blissfully unaware of their impending doom.

I ran straight into the heart of the convoy and started to yell for Jorrsk, it took me a few seconds to find him, talking in a low voice to T'ss. I stood in front of them and grabbed Jorrsk by his arm.

"Jorrsk. There are men, on horseback, charging up the pass as we speak," I said, the running stammering my breath.

"What-? Oh. Oh the Nine Divines." Jorrsk said. He quickly started to shout order and the troop started to move with urgency. After he had finished shouting, Jorrsk turned to me and said, "Listen Green, you need to go back there and keep an eye on the horsemen, when they come too close, use that freaky Bosmer power of yours and send an animal back to camp."

I nodded and left the camp back toward the growing dust cloud in the distance. Once I was good way from the camp I found a large rock in the middle of the pass and settled down to watch the horsemen. Taking my bow from my back I strung it quietly and took out my 3 remaining poisoned arrows. The poison had now crystallised and I took a small pinch of snow, melted it in my hand and poured it onto the crystals which liquefied them. I knew what I was going to do clear as day in my mind, but putting into action was going to be a different story. I took another close look at the troop and clearly identified the leader, a large Nord with mismatched Dwarven and Elven armour with a glass helm held in one of his hands, the other gripping the rein arrogantly. I took the bow and nocked the poisoned arrow into it. As the Nord came up, a disdainful sneer became more and more apparent on his face until I could bear it no more; I drew the bow and fired in one swift motion. The aim was not the man as it would have been far too difficult to pierce the armour, but rather his horse which like all the others was unprotected and exposed. By some machination that I had no control over the horse moved slightly as the arrow flew and instead of the arrow burying itself in the chest of the beast, it slid alongside the horse's flank cutting the hide thinly. It also cut the saddle strap, cleanly breaking it and causing the saddle to slide off the side of the horse along with the rider, I'm sure if he had his helm on and had gripped the reins with both hands he wouldn't have fallen so badly but as it was he was thrown clear of the horse and landed straight in the path of another which stampeded over him and stopped him moving. I felt very pleased with myself for a moment but then reality came back to me. The riders had stopped now and were circling around their leader, unsure what to do. Not moving any more I could see the markings on the riders. Imperials, Bad sign. They'd kill every one of us if they were given the order and they all were very tenacious in carrying out their plans, I waited a moment longer to see if their second in command would make himself known and I could further destroy their command structure, as it turned out he did. A Nord took the glass helm from the dead leader, put it on his head and was probably going to shout at the men to continue forward. As it happened, a feathered shaft sprouted from his mouth, as soon as he'd opened it as I unleashed the third poisoned arrow into the pompous man not giving the troop time to see him hit the ground before the final arrow thumped into another man. The blow on the third man hit him at the back of the knee and while not fatal in itself, it administered the lethal dose of poison into his blood stream, wilting away his life like a rose in winter.

Serveral minutes later I was back where I had seen Jorrsk last, to find that he had moved along with the other bandits. Not to worry, while they had disappeared they had left in their place a large swathe of tracks that I could follow to their holding point. I followed the tracks up the pass a bit then followed them into a side valley with a frozen brook going down it. After following the brook for a while I felt eyes upon me, looking up I saw Steffilka a few hundred metres in front of me. She beckoned for me to follow as she walked around a bend.

When I turned the corner I could see all the warrior bandits gathered in a line across the width of the steep valley, behind them were several pockets of marksmen, their bows poised for use. Behind them, at the highest point of the valley, stood Jorrsk and the non-combatants, T'ss and Illianda. I ran up to the line, it parting momentarily to let me past, and ran up to Jorrsk.

"Report," Jorrsk said briskly, his eyes fixated on the bend of the valley.

"Thirty-one horses and twenty-eight riders, they're imperials with standard armaments. They have no real command structure to speak of sir." I said, grinning wolfishly as I made the last statement.

"Oh, and why would that be, Green?" he said taking his eyes momentarily off the valley bend and looking sternly at me.

"Their leader was a fearsome man clad in Dwarven and elven armour. So I shoot his horse, he fell off and got trampled to death, his second in command seem a little too eager so I shot him too, and then I shot a third man as I left."

Jorrsk thought for a moment then said "good work Green, now get back to your command group." And with that he turned back to the bend in the valley.

I went down to the outcrop on the right where Drad and the rest of my command group were. In times of major conflict or when we tried dangerous manoeuvres, Jorrsk always got us to work in command groups, which reduced the amount of orders he had to give. There were ten marksmen in our bandit group so we were split up into two command groups, I led one and a Dunmer called Shadowlight led the other. In my command group was: Drad, my second in command; Fenter, a little imperial who didn't speak much; Ciara, a feisty Nordic women who always wanted to get back at someone and Draco, a self-absorbed fool of an Altmer; but a crack shot none the less. I went over to them and bunched them closer than Drad had.

"There are no bowmen in their group," I said to Drad. "You did right but it wasn't nessasary."

Taking my own Orcish Bow out, I laid it in the snow and rummaged in my pack until I found what I was looking for, ten Elven arrows, very expensive but damned good and cutting through things. I laid them on a small rock protruding from the snow and took up my bow again, notching an arrow into it, and waited.

It was about 3 minutes after that I heard noises of a horse trotting on rocks down the valley. I looked over to the left ledge where Shadowlight and his command group was, I caught his eye and nodded to him. He smiled briefly then turned to his command group. I in turn spoke to mine.

"Shadow and his lot have the first shot, so hold your fire." I whispered loudly so everyone could hear me.

With that we settled down in wait. I didn't take long, a few seconds later a lone rider came into full view of the bandits, he hadn't seen us yet as his head was fixed on the tracks, a moment later he looked up and did a double take at the sight of all the warriors opposing him. He tried to make his horse backpedal but before his heart had beat twice, three arrows sailed over from the left ledge at the rider, one pierced the horse making it whiny in protest, the second dented his chest plate but did no more the third however dug itself deep into the unfortunate soldier's neck, the arrow wedged in a curious angle as not to block blood flow out as arterial spray flew into the air from the man on horseback, he slouched over the now blood-soaked and frightened horse. Shadowlight gave an order and the other two who hadn't fired shot an arrow each into the horse them both burying itself in the chest of the animal. The horse reared up and with a final scream and died in the now red snow.

This time it was Shadowlight that caught my eye, when he had it he tilted his head towards me signalling if I wanted to take the next shot. I listened to the new sounds of multiple horse trotting the valley and shook my head then I mouthed to Shadowlight 'too many' and he nodded and went to speak to his group. I myself needed to talk to my group as the biggest problem now was putting too many arrows into one person. I decided to use a rotary system that meant no more than one arrow was in the air at one point allowing targets to be chosen and the aim to be precise. I told this to the group and they nodded in agreement. I looked back up to see the entire imperial company line up in front of us at the foot of the valley. Only ten horses could stand abreast down the width of the valley so they were bunched up quite tight which would make it easier for us to hit our targets.

A man rather timidly rode up halfway between the bandit line and the imperial line and spoke directly to Jorrsk.

"You and your men have violated the peace in Skyrim! By order of the Emperor you each have the death warrant on your head! However, due to the wretched Stormcloak uprising here in Skyrim the captain wishes you and your 'crew' to join us against the Stormcloaks. Your payment being your freedom to walk free in all the land of Skyrim." The man bravely stood his ground as he delivered his ultimatum and kept his eyes firmly on Jorrsk despite the numerous weapons aimed at him.

Jorrsk replied in turn, "The offer is rejected and we give you five seconds to return to your line before you become a makeshift quiver!"

The lone man on his horse needed no more encouragement and went zipping back to his comrades who opened up a gap where he could enter through. As he disappeared another man came forward out the line though not as far out. When I saw him I chuckled a bit as the man had the same glass helm that the original leader had, he was delivering a final speech to his men. Once he'd finished he turned towards the bandits he started to raise his sword, but as soon as it started to move I released the elven arrow from the bow and watched with satisfaction as it rammed into the man's eye socket, this had a doubly good effect as none of the imperial soldiers were aware of their captain's demise as he had tensed up in the saddle as the arrow made contact making him appear alright from the back.

I started to reload as Drad fired his arrow into another imperial, and then Ciara fired, she seemed very eager to start. By that time I had reloaded and was waiting my turn. Draco was next; effortlessly knocking a man off his horse, and then came Fenter whose arrow I lost track of in the writhing mass of imperials. I came to fire again and shot my arrow at a heavily clad Redguard who had almost reached the line of bandits, the arrow missed him but instead impaled itself into the horses forehead, the hazelnut mare simply collapsed, her rider being thrown forward and landed in a crumpled heap before the bandit line, where a blonde haired Nord decapitated him with his axe. By now the front line of the imperials was empty of men but due to the good aiming of the archers many of the horses still were standing. The imperials that were further back now had to push their way through these beasts that were panicked and trying to run away. Jorrsk roared at the bandits and immediately the line disappeared. The bandits were now streaming through the horses pulling the unsuspecting imperials off their horses and hacking at them on the ground, the imperials at the back looked extremely scared. Their command had been wiped out and now there were men sneaking around pulling the riders off their horses. Eventually they ran, the first one who went was stopped by a stubborn fellow but soon they both fled along with the other survivors, about ten in total.

As the last one fled, Jorrsk ordered everyone back. In total we had three fatalities, and six with major wounds. T'ss and Illianda set up a sickbay for the wounded and the camp went about burying the dead. The bandit dead each got a separate grave, adorned with full funeral traditions of their race. The imperials were picked over and then the naked bodies were thrown into a large hollow that was then filled with snow. There was thirteen horses left alive and all extremely nervous, but after a rub down and the saddles taken off them, they became calm and quiet. There was no way Jorrsk was going to get anyone to start trekking again so he announced that we were to camp here tonight. The campfire was soon set up and Illianda was cooking dinner in between tending the wounded. One of them had died already and there was to be a funeral for him too tomorrow, but as I settled down on a flat stones warmed by the fire I knew that things couldn't have gone any better.


	3. Salvation among the rocks

I woke up with bleary eyes, with Shadowlight prodding me in the shoulder. I was still groggy from earlier; the Nords in the camp had broken out their tankard to celebrate the victory over the Imperial soldiers. And despite my protests, I too had consumed some of mead.

Shadowlight had evidently grown impatient with my refusal to get out of bed, and kicked some snow into my face. With a start I jumped out of bed and launched a clumsy swipe at Shadowlight, only for my fist to be grabbed and used to pull me to an upright position.

Shadowlight looked at me sardonically and said "Are we quite finished being all macho and manly, or would you like to start a camp brawl, or have another drinking contest." His words cut through me, mainly because of the mead but also his disdainful tone and smugness was unbearable.

Looking up at the moon I saw it wasn't even midnight yet. Looking back down to the campfire I also saw that there were still people up, some of the hardier Nords. I had gone to bed early after a stern order from Illianda. "Why, in all of Tamriel, did you wake me?" I said in an exasperated voice.

"Jorrsk, called a command meeting, there are some things to be considered before the morrow," Shadowlight said to me.

Rubbing my eyes and trying to make myself at least slightly presentable, I followed Shadowlight through the camp to where Jorrsk's command tent was. As I followed shadowlight in a felt the comfortable warmth that always exuded out of the tent. There were ten people in the tent. Shadowlight and I were the ranger commanders. Jorrsk was there and unsurprisingly T'ss was also there, Illianda was present; to give the viewpoint for the wounded bandits most probably. Steffilka was the only other one here that I could make out in the tent. In typical fashion of her she was standing near the doorway, blending in with the shadows, I doubt hardly anyone else in the room was aware of her presense. She looked at me, her eyes lingering on me before turning back to Jorrsk.

I also turned to Jorrsk who nodded at Shadowlight. Shadowlight dipped his head in acknowledgement, I guessed Shadowlight was sent to fetch all missing people not just me and that I was just the last to arrive.

"Right. I'll just get down to the problem." Jorrsk said with a worryingly stern look on his face. "Illianda has informed me that three of the five wounded men have a severe fever brought on by their wounds. And it is impossible to move them until their fever breaks. That means we have to stay here for at least a week. The only problem is that we only have foodstuffs to last us three days with rationing. Not being able to move the camp is also very dangerous as we won't be able to defend ourselves properly from a full on assault. The bottom line is, we could be facing the extinction of the camp, if we aren't in a better position tomorrow." He sighed heavily. "I'm calling the camp to be disbanded."

With this news everyone started to murmur among themselves, for many of these people the camp had become a lifeline, a home when they were shunned. To think of it gone was a scary concept.

"Quiet!" Jorrsk's voice rose over the collective din of the tent. "Tomorrow morning the combat warriors will meet with me and the rangers will meet with Steffilka, we have to shift the work duties to compensate for this predicament. Until then." Jorrsk turned away from us and went to his study table not looking round once as everyone filed out, except T'ss who went over to his side and began to whisper to him.

I waited by the doorway until Illianda came near and walked out with her. She pulled me over to one side, and spoke softly to me.

"When I said that they couldn't be moved, I lied." She said in a cracked voice, "They could be moved a short distance but if the journey is too long they will die, but I knew if I said that to Jorrsk he'd keep pushing me until we'd end up going on a journey that really would be too long. Sorry." She buried her head into my chest, crying quietly.

"For what," I whispered, stroking her hair. "You always had to make difficult decisions, in this case I fully understand and I think you made the right choice."

"But. But what if I'd said that they'd be fine, then even though they would've died at least the camp would survive." She said, her tear-streaked face looking up at me.

"Then you wouldn't have been Illianda, you're compassionate. The most compassionate person I've met in a long time, and I love you the way you are."

Illianda perked up slightly at this and stopped crying. We sat down on the log next to the fire; she pushed herself deeper into my chest and when she was comfortable she finally was still, and her breath became slow and regular, the indication that she had fallen asleep. I sat there looking at Illianda thinking about how differently the breakup of the encampment might affect each of us. I had found it a retreat, but I hadn't originally planned on staying. It was only because of Illianda that I stayed there as long as I did. But for her the disintegration of the camp would be much worse. One of the other campers told me that she had been here the longest. That she was the only remaining founder of the camp, the thought made me feel much more for Illianda, to have something that you had been a part of for nearly thirty years taken away from you by a couple of wounded warriors would be more that I could take. I looked back at Illianda and settled down next to the log and waited for sleep.

When I woke, the dull grey light of pre-dawn greeted me, washing over the camp, dimly but evenly lighting everything. Illianda was still asleep beside the embers of the fire. Carefully detangling myself from her I stood up and surveyed the camp. Not much, there were clusters of bedrolls around small campfires dotted around the valley, the biggest being the bedrolls around the main campfire. Looking up I could see a scout, one of ours, walking on the edge of the ridge that formed the valley that we were in. In case Illianda got cold I stoked the fire up and got a couple of singed logs near the side Illianda was on. Then I went around the camp to stretch my legs.

Halfway round I felt someone's eyes on me, I looked up thinking it might have been the scout that was walking round, but he was nowhere to be seen, I was intrigued to say the least. Carrying on with my walk, I was attentive to my surroundings a lot more than I previously had been. I had managed to get about hundred yards or so around when I saw it.

I had looked back to check an alcove formed in the rock, when I saw a flitter of black cloth darting behind one of the few trees in the valley. I knew who the assailant was now by the cloth and jauntily carried on with my walking, hoping she would spring her trap sooner rather than later. That was my first mistake. A few more paces then I heard a slump of snow fall off another tree. Turning around I scrutinised it to determine whether it had fallen naturally of not. I got to the tree and saw footprints in the snow. Crouching down I could see that they were not mine.

Thinking rather foolishly that my unknown assassin was getting sloppy I stood back up and turned around. Into her trap. Standing in front of me stood Steffilka, wearing her traditional Dark Brotherhood attire, with two Deadric daggers, both blades crossed over and resting on my collar bones. The daggers themselves glowed with unholy light and I knew they were both enchanted, I skill which I detest almost as much as conventional magic. Slowly lifting one finger I pushed the blades a little way from my neck and said "Well done, point to you and all, now I don't suppose you could lower those twin blades of doom."

She put her blades into their sheaths and did a curtsey, before laughing uncontrollably and saying, "You were too easy, the footprint in the snow? You know me better than that."

"Yes well, when was the last time you killed someone, for all I knew you'd just gotten sloppy." I said, filled with embarrassment and anger at myself for being so naïve.

Steffilka feigned a look of outrage. "As if I would ever be anything but the best, the fact that you should even consider an idea like that,"

She was about to keep going but I stopped her. The thought of her going on and on about how she was the best and how she'd beaten me didn't appeal at all.

She pouted a bit then strode purposely over to the camp. I scrambled a bit to catch up then fell in step beside her.

"So what are the rangers to do under your superb leadership then, Steffilka?" I said, making the sarcasm very clear.

"Scouting, what else?" she said brightly.

"Don't we do that anyway?" I said, my brow knotting in confusion.

"Yes but this time you're actually looking for something. The warriors and mages are going to scout the perimeters and stuff, you lot are going to find a camp, a proper base where we can finally settle down in. If there is a place not far from here then we'll move in and leave this nomadic stretch behind us." Steffilka smiled at the thought, she had been a fervent supporter for staying in the camp we'd left, her unnatural dislike for being exposed and on the run leading her to find more and more inventive solutions to persuade the camp from leaving.

"What makes you think there is anything here?" I asked, thinking over the plan with scepticism.

"Personally, I don't. There is nothing to suggest that there are any burial cairns, Nordic holds, caves or lairs in this area that would be big enough to fit our entire company in. However, Jorrsk leads this camp and it is under his orders that I act." She said curtly, before turning away and striding off to the camp.

Intrigued I followed her up to the camp, where a few more of our companions were up and about. Illianda was one of them and was tending to the wounded and dead. I left her to it as I never liked the stench of death that surrounded the area and I was quite content to sit by the fire with some tea that was boiling over the fire. Around half an hour later, Jorrsk came out of the tent, stretched out and took a small hunk of meat from the cooking pot, then retreated back into his relative warmth of the tent. This was an unwritten message to the whole camp. When Jorrsk was finished his breakfast the day would begin and there was no excuse to be late.

Everyone started to gather their things for the day ahead, warriors readying their weapons and making sure they had been oiled properly, mages were finishing the mantras they practised to increase the potency and frequency of their spells, rangers making sure their bows were in good condition and by the time Jorrsk had opened the flap of the tent we were already separated into the two teams we were meant to be in.

Jorrsk took one look at us and bellowed, "Don't you lot have somewhere to be!" he gestured at the rangers. "The rest of you gather round."

As he finished a loud whistle came from a tree not far from us, looking into the eaves I could spot the diminutive figure of Steffilka.

Taking the lead I walked over to the tree and held out a hand to which Steffilka could step down with. A gloved hand shot down from the tree grasping mine and a moment later Steffilka followed, landing gracefully on the dusting of snow, with a curtsey she let go of my hand and beckoned the rest of the group close, as she did a large noise came over from the group that Jorrsk was talking to.

"Listen up!" Steffilka raised her voice to grab our attention back from Jorrsk. "Jorrsk has quite rightly decided that we've travelled far enough, it is time to settle down. Form a home which we can defend and feel safe in. Also if we cannot find somewhere that the wounded and us can settle down in, there shall be no camp by the end of the week. As such if we, as a group, are to survive, we must find shelter. Because of that, and the fact that if the warriors and mages are free to scout the perimeter in your absence. We are to go on a treasure hunt. Finding anyplace that is defendable both from attack and the weather and that is not too far from here."

Many of the rangers started muttering among themselves and Steffilka paused a moment to let them indulge themselves, once the noise had died down a bit she continued.

"We will work in pairs, once a pair has found something of note; one of you will travel back here to inform the camp. If you do not find anything you are to come back to camp FOR nightfall, no late comers. Clear?"

The group murmured they're reply and Steffilka seemed satisfied. "Now pair up with someone of similar skill, I don't want any whinging of people holding other people back."

The group started to split up to find their friends or people they could at least tolerate. I turned to find Drad but before I could move I felt a diminutive and gloved hand close around my wrist. Turning around I found I was looking into the face of Steffilka, or at least all that wasn't covered by her dark brotherhood mask.

"Even I need a partner Green. Who else would go and fetch the camp when I find something good out there." She said lathering her words with honey.

"Surely you don't need me alongside you. Didn't you say your partners had to be the same skill level." I said, feeling slightly uneasy at the tone of Steffilka.

"Roughly the same skill set and I think you're the least rubbish person in this ragged outfit." She said, even batting her eyelids a bit.

Taken aback by Steffilka's sweet attitude towards me I was forced to concede to whatever logic that she thought she was using. "Fine. But we'll have to take Drad as otherwise we'll end up having one left over, probably Draco, knowing his popularity."

"Sure, fine, whatever." She said nonchalantly turning away to check her weapons.

I quickly fetched Drad, whom had paired himself with Ciara, even though I was getting much abuse from Ciara. I looked around and sure enough there was Draco, standing apart from everyone else alone. Calling to him and forced Ciara and him together as a group, Then took Drad back over to Steffilka. She was ready by then and was waiting to leave.

So there we were Steffilka, Drad and I were walking just within sight of each other up a mountain that made up the western side of the pass that we had travelled down before the imperials forced us into the valley. The groups had been sent to all points of the compass and were to scout around for the whole day.

When we reached the summit we looked over the landscape, we were lucky enough to still be under the cloud bank. And I couldn't see anything. Nothing in the punctuated landcape of mountains and rocks showed any signs that it could be a secret base.

"We need to keep moving," called Steffilka, she had been sitting on some scree, catching her breath and was now shouldering her pack.

"But there's nothing! No sight of anything, anything at all that could even be considered a good sight." I complained to her.

"We need to do something," Drad said. "Even if it's hopeless, we need to try. Or would you rather we wait for our own demise twiddling our thumbs."

"I guess so," I mumbled feeling cowardly and shameful at my quickness to give up.

"But hey, I was feeling exactly the same thing,"Drad said. "You're not alone in this feeling but if we at least do something we can go down knowing we tried our best."

"Well, best get moving boys," Steffilka said, walking past us and slid down a scree slope onto a ledge thirty feet below us.

We followed and made our way down the mountain, at some point Drad made his way to the lead because when we were about half way down. We came to a ledge that dropped away quite severly. As Drad was the first there so he went to the edge to see how far down it was. Then he disappeared.

With an almighty crack the snow underneath him gave way along with him. There was no slow-motion action or seemingly frozen pictures like the bards tell of in all the best tales. Both Steffilka and I were well versed in snow travelling though, and immediately started back-pedalling. Good thing too as more ice began to break off.

Eventually the ground was steady again and both Steffilka and I were sure that another break off wasn't going to happen. Now we thought about Drad. With a single mind we made a rappel, Steffilka getting a harness together and I was hammering a point into the rock. In about half a minute Steffilka was ready to go, she didn't even bother to check the line, simply clicking herself in and jumping off the cliff edge. I quickly followed, swan diving off the edge and barely slowing my descent until the last minute.

There was a huge pile of snow in front of us and Steffilka was already burrowing through it. I came over to her but too late to help her dig as she'd already located Drad. He'd only sunk a few feet under the snow when it broke off. Steffilka unceremoniously started to drag an unconscious Drad from the drift when I helped her, both with an arm we managed to pull him all the way out of the snow. As we did Drad started to regain consciousness and started to scream. Looking down we saw a slight kink in his leg, broken. I told Steffilka to break out the first aid kit, then looked up at the ledge, it must've been at least 40ft. Finally I looked down and did a double take. There, right in front of me was a huge metal door set into the rock face, looking around I could also see that we were in a huge, ornate porch to this entrance, though the ice had made it difficult to see it at first.

Slowly I walked up to the door. It must have been at least 80ft into the side of the mountain and as I got close I could see the door had a bronze/gold lustre to it and the design carved into it was geometrical and very accurate. The final clue was when I got next to the door I could hear the chatter and hiss of mechanics behind it. This was a Dwemner, a Dwarven, door.

I spun round, eager to show this to Steffilka, only to find her, mouth agape, staring at the cavern. I ran back to her and said. "It's Dwemner!"

"But. But that's impossible." She said, "No map has ever even suggested that the Dwemner had a ruin here."

With that she started to drift towards the door, in her silent fashion. I shook my head and turned back towards Drad who was still moaning softly at his injury. I strode over to him, by the time I got over to him he had fallen unconscious again, I kicked him softly to rouse him, then I crouched down, looked him in the eye and started to reassure him. That everything was going to be fine. When I mentioned the cave he seemed to brighten up considerably and wanting to keep him this bright mood I started layering on the praise, the fact he'd been the one who'd found it and that if he hadn't broken his leg we wouldn't be here with this huge breakthrough. Any normal person would've seen through my rather bad attempt at stopping him from brooding. But then Drad had just broken his leg so it was understandable that he wasn't all with it.

I stayed with him for another five minutes before Steffilka came back; she pulled me off to one side before saying:

"We need to get him back; he'll get frostbite out here."

"What do you think will happen when he gets back?" I asked.

"I dunno but he needs medical attention and we can't provide it out he in the snow." She said, annoyance of the question quite clearly playing across her face.

"I would've said that we'd tell Jorrsk and unless he found something better we'd move the entire camp into the Dwarven ruin, Including Drad." I said, patronizing her.

"But he needs Illianda, the longer we wait the more damage is done." She said, real concern showing in her eyes.

"A few hours is not going to make much difference, and anyway I spend so much time with her I know most medical procedures and believe all Illianda would do to Drad's leg is put it in a mud cast, and that can be done anytime within the next forty-eight hours." I said. "All we'd do by moving him is cause unnecessary pain. Although, we can't leave him out here. Why don't you take him in and I'll go back to camp and tell Jorrsk."

"You know so much of medicine, you stay. Anyway I'm faster alone so I'll get there quicker." She said, the embarrassment of losing the argument flushed her cheeks slightly but other than that she seemed fine with the plan. She turned quickly and started to run off.

As she ran off I called to her, "Try and find an easier way round than we did,"

With that I was left alone with Drad. It took me about fifteen minutes to get him to the door involving several different ways, none of which were that effective.

When we were next to the door I unclasped a small torch from the bottom of my pack and got out my tinder box and lit the torch.

Then, with baited breath, I opened the door to our salvation.


	4. Memories Left Abandoned

I opened the door and entered into a wide circular room with a flagstone floor, I quickly dragged Drad inside then took my torch to look around; quickly I found several large pots of charcoal set upon pillars of stone and lit them, instantly filling the room with warmth and light.

I returned to Drad and set him beside one of these pots, much to his agreement. I then took a proper look around at the room, the rock face on either side of the door cut through a circular wall of Dwarven Metal. The room was roughly 100ft in diameter and about 20ft high. Various fragments of Dwemner machinery scattered the floor and the wall was ripped open in places and the content viciously torn out. Intersecting the room was three doors, including the entrance. The most worrying thing about the room was the copious amount of blood smeared and splattered across it despite the fact that some obvious effort had been made to clean it up. With a shudder I set to work.

The first thing was to make Drad comfortable. Using a piece of metal I pushed one of the pots onto the ground and then pushed it into a corner. Then I got Drad's bedroll out of his pack and spread a safe distance away from the smouldering pot. With that I then got Drad into his bedroll and set his pack beneath him to prop him up. He complained about being sleepy but I wasn't going let him rest yet.

I scurried around the room, tidying up all the fragments of machinery and Dwemer parts and dumped them in font of Drad, ordered him to catalogue the content. He grumbled a bit as he pulled out a piece of charcoal and a roll of paper from his pack but I knew he'd end up brooding if I let him rest.

Then I looked to the doors. I had heard of many tales of the ruins of the Deep elves and not one of them good. Many of the ruins still had active traps and sentries. Not wanting to be ambushed I first went to the door to the left of the entrance. The door opened softly to my touch and I found myself looking down a long dark corrider the sound of heavy machinery coming from its depths. Thankfully on both sides of the doors there were more of the pots with charcoal in them. Quickly lighting them I withdrew into the main circular room and looked for a way to lock it.

Twenty minutes later both doors were barred shut. The second door lead to a similar corridor as the first and I had lit the pots that I had found near the door then retreated to the main room. The problem of locking them however was quite difficult. I had thought over it for a long time then the idea struck me of making a bar on the door. I still had metal points for making a secure fastening in the rock face the same that I had used when Steffilka and I had rappelled from the ledge above down to the area outside. With that I had made two bars from a couple of sheet of dwarven metal that I had found on the floor. Then i hammered one point through the sheet and the wall and one into the wall on the other side of the door. I was hammering the last point when the entrance door opened and Steffilka burst in weapons raised, she quickly surveyed the room and said,

"I thought I heard fighting," she said, still in a defensive position.

"Nope, just doing some home improvements," I said cheerily. I always found it amusing when Steffilka got something wrong and she knew it.

Steffilka scowled and then opened the door again to let in a very bright and bouncy Illianda in as well as Red and a mage. Both Red and the mage had large barrels and big packs.

"Illianda?" I shouted, surprised that she would be her so soon. She ran toward me and then launched herself into my arms and kissed me on the cheek.

"I'm so glad you found this, it's even better than I could've hoped for." She whispered. I could fell her head twisting around next to mine to try and see everything.

I squeezed her then set her down, pointing over to Drad who was making patterns with several gems he had found.

She seemed almost to forget me instantly and devoted her entire attention to Drad. I then said my greeting to Red and helped him unpack some of the things he was carrying. I tried not to notice the magician.

Steffilka pulled me over to one side once I'd helped Red.

"Why did you lock the doors?" she asked.

"There were long dark corridors that may have held anything, instead of exploring I looked after Drad. But I didn't want to be constantly afraid that anything; Dwarven spiders, spheres or even Falmer could just come in and attack me when I wasn't looking so I barred the doors so I wouldn't have to worry about dealing with them." I said.

"Okay, I was just worried that there actually was something there, it would be very inconvient to have Dwarven Centurions behind each door." She said, calming down a bit.

"I'm sure you'd have cut them both down to size," I said, Illianda's cheeriness had infected me and I was in high spirits.

Steffilka grumbled a bit then walked off to one of the doors opened it and looked into the gloom.

"I'm going to scout around!" she announced abruptly to the rest of us before taking out a purple vial and drinking its contents.

Illianda, on hearing her, got up and was about to go and stop her but she had already disappeared into the shadows. She sighed then turned back to Drad to whom she was applying a salve to his leg that would reduce swelling and prevent infection.

I closed the door but didn't lock it as I didn't want Steffilka to be trapped in labyrinth of bronze without an easy way out. Then I turned to Red who had removed the lid from the barrel exposing a large number of bedrolls. I looked around to see where the mage was but couldn't see him. I questioned his whereabouts to Red.

"He's gone to find some rocks and firewood. We need a working camp by the time everyone gets here and the camp ain't complete until there's a campfire. Now help me spread out these bedrolls." He said in his deep voice.

I simply shrugged my shoulders and helped Red set out all the camps bedrolls in the room. It was quite tight but it worked. There was even enough space for a separate part for Jorrsk and his study table. We rigged it up that Jorrsk's tent would serve as a partition when it arrived along with everyone else.

We were just finishing up when the mage came back in levitating behind him a pile of stones and logs. I quickly turned away in anger. I have always hated magic on account on what it had done to my parents and I had to muster a fair bit of self-control to stop myself battering the mage. When I looked back around the mage was just finishing placing the wood and stones in a way that would prevent the campfire spreading but still provide enough heat. I then rather deliberately took Illianda's cooking pot and a few sticks that she liked using as a spit and set them over the fireplace. The mage just nodded cryptically at me and then snapped his fingers. At the same time he clicked a small flame was brought to being at the centre of the fireplace. In a few moments, sped up artificially by the mage, the fire place erupted in to a large display of warmth and light that dominated the room.

We all sat down around the fire on the large cracked flagstones that were already warm, and waited. After a time Illianda came over to the fire and filled the pot with water and started to prepare a stew for dinner as well as a separate kettle for tea.

Once Illianda seemed satisfied with the state of the stew she came over to me and sat down beside me. I put my arm around her and she leaned in to rest her head on my shoulder. I opened the door and entered into a wide circular room with a flagstone floor, I quickly dragged Drad inside then took my torch to look around; quickly I found several large pots of charcoal set upon pillars of stone and lit them, instantly filling the room with warmth and light.

I returned to Drad and set him beside one of these pots, much to his agreement. I then took a proper look around at the room, the rock face on either side of the door cut through a circular wall of Dwarven Metal. The room was roughly 100ft in diameter and about 20ft high. Various fragments of Dwemner machinery scattered the floor and the wall was ripped open in places and the content viciously torn out. Intersecting the room was three doors, including the entrance. The most worrying thing about the room was the copious amount of blood smeared and splattered across it despite the fact that some obvious effort had been made to clean it up. With a shudder I set to work.

The first thing was to make Drad comfortable. Using a piece of metal I pushed one of the pots onto the ground and then pushed it into a corner. Then I got Drad's bedroll out of his pack and spread a safe distance away from the smouldering pot. With that I then got Drad into his bedroll and set his pack beneath him to prop him up. He complained about being sleepy but I wasn't going let him rest yet.

First I tidied up all the fragments of machinery and dumped them in font of Drad and ordered him to catalog the content. He grumbled a bit but I knew he'd end up brooding if I let him rest.

Then I looked to the doors. I had heard of many tales in the ruins of the Deep elves and not one of them good. Many of the ruins still had active traps and sentries. Not wanting to be ambushed I first went to the door to the left of the entrance. The door opened softly to my touch and I found myself looking down a long dark corrider the sound of heavy machinery coming from its depths. Thankfully on both sides of the doors there were more of the pots with charcoal in them. Quickly lighting them I withdrew into the main circular room and looked for a way to lock it.

Twenty minutes later both doors were fastened shut. The second door lead to a similar corridor as the first and I had lit the pots that I had found near the door then retreated to the main room. The problem of locking them however was quite difficult. I had thought over it for a long time then the idea struck me of making a bar on the door. I still had metal points for making a secure fastening in the rock face the same that I had used when Steffilka and I had rappelled from the ledge above down to the area outside. With that I had made two bars from a couple of sheet of dwarven metal that I had found on the floor. Then i hammered one point through the sheet and the wall and one into the wall on the other side of the door. I was hammering the last point when the entrance door opened and Steffilka burst in weapons raised, she quickly surveyed the room and said,

"I thought I heard fighting," she said, still in a defensive position.

"Nope, just doing some home improvements," I said cheerily.

Steffilka scowled and then opened the door again to let in a very bright and bouncy Illianda as well as Red and a mage. Both Red and the mage had large barrels and big packs.

"Illianda?" I shouted, surprised that she would be her so soon. She ran toward me and then launched herself into my arms and kissed me on the cheek.

"I'm so glad you found this, it's even better than I could've hoped for." She whispered.

I squeezed her then set her down, pointing over to Drad who was making patterns with several gems he had found.

She seemed almost to forget me instantly and devoted her entire attention to Drad. I then said my greeting to Red and helped him unpack some of the things he was carrying. I tried not to notice the magician.

Steffilka pulled me over to one side once I'd helped Red.

"Why did you lock the doors?" she asked.

"There were long dark corridors that may have held anything, instead of exploring I looked after Drad. But I didn't want to be constantly afraid that anything; Dwarven spiders, spheres or even Falmer could just come in and attack me when I wasn't looking so I barred the doors so I wouldn't have to worry about dealing with them." I said.

"Okay, I was just worried that there actually was something there, it would be very inconvient to have Dwarven Centurions behind each door." She said, calming down a bit.

"I'm sure you'd have cut them both down to size," I said,

Steffilka grumbled a bit then walked off to one of the doors opened it and looked into the gloom.

"I'm going to scout around!" she called to the rest of us before take out a purple vial and drinking its contents.

Illianda was about to go and stop her but she had already disappeared into the shadows. She sighed then turned back to Drad to whom she was applying a salve to his leg that would reduce swelling and prevent infection.

I closed the door but didn't lock it as I didn't want steffilka to be trapped in the labyrinth without an easy way out. Then I turned to Red who had removed the lid from the barrel exposing a large number of bedrolls. I looked around to see where the mage was but couldn't see him. I questioned his whereabouts to Red.

"He's gone to find some rocks and firewood. We need a working camp by the time everyone gets here and the camp ain't complete until there's a campfire. Now help me spread out these bedrolls." He said in his deep voice.

I simply shrugged my shoulders and helped Red set out all the camps bedrolls in the room. It was quite tight but it worked. There was even enough space for a separate part for Jorrsk and his study table. We rigged it up that Jorrsk's tent would serve as a partition when it arrived along with everyone else.

We were just finishing up when the mage came back in levitating behind him a pile of stones and logs. Quickly I turned away in anger. I have always hated magic on account on what It had done to my parents and I had to muster a fair bit of self-control to stop myself battering the mage. When I looked back around the mage was just finishing placing the wood and stones in a way that would prevent the campfire spreading but still provide enough heat. I then rather deliberately took Illianda's cooking pot and a few sticks that she liked using as a spit and set them over the fireplace. The mage just nodded cryptically at me and then snapped his fingers. At the same time he clicked a small flame was brought to being at the centre of the fireplace. In a few moments, sped up artificially by the mage the fire place erupted in to a large fire that dominated the room.

We all sat down around the fire on the flagstones that were already warm, and waited. After a time Illianda came over to the fire and filled the pot with water and started to prepare a stew for dinner. As well as a separate kettle for tea.

Once Illianda seemed satisfied with the state of the stew she came over to me and sat down beside me. We sat there together looking into the flames and just being content with being together. I often thought about saying something, but for some reason I knew that whatever I said would bring this piece of tranquillity to an end, something that I didn't want to happen.

We sat there together looking into the flames and just being content with being together. I often thought about saying something, but for some reason I knew that whatever I said would bring this piece of tranquillity to an end, something that I didn't want to happen.


	5. The Beginning of the End

Everything happened at once. The door that still had a bar on it made a loud bang repeatedly and the entrance started to swing open. I was at a loss and simply stood head swivelling between the entrance and the barred door. I was forced into action when Illianda also stood up and ran lightly over to the entrance as did everyone else who could. As the rest of the camp spilled in I sprang into action. To be more useful I quickly ran over to the barred door and unbarred it. Immediately it opened and a diminutive figure fell to the floor, it was Steffilka. Looking up I could see why she was banging so frantically, several Falmer were standing down the hall, confused by the sudden warmth that had spilled out from the room. Quickly I slammed the door shut and put the bar back on, then worried the same situation might at the other door I went over and barred that on too. Once I had barred both doors I looked around to see the rest of the camp staring at me.

"Falmer… they were… chasing Steffilka," I said, panting as I had been sub-consciously holding my breath.

As I said this many of the campers' looks fell from wonder of the place to despair at the enemies that lurked behind the metal door. Jorrsk pushed his way to the front.

"Falmer? How many? Where? Is this place safe?" he said his panic for the camp making him shove all his questions together.

"You'll have to ask Steffilka I only know that she must have been chased by them." I said, raising my arms to shrug.

As I said this Illianda and T'ss pushed past everyone and raced over to Steffilka who was still lying in a heap near the door. They pulled her over to reveal several lacerations that she had suffered across the body. They were deep and jagged probably by the vicious club-like swords that the Falmer carried. Illianda talked in a low voice to T'ss who promptly stood up and raced over to get the medical satchel Illianda always carried, it was beside Drad who was straining to see anything behind the rest of the camp. T'ss came back over and gave the satchel to Illianda. She got out several vials of red liquid and carefully unstoppered one. Then she applied the potion directly to the wounds drop at a time, making sure it was applied evenly and sparingly. Despite this she had to use the entirety of the potion on her wound. She then took another of the red vials and poured it into a small parting of Steffilka's mouth. She gagged a bit but managed to swallow the substance and looked much better for it.

Colour began to circulate in her skin bringing it back into its deep purple lustre, and her breathing became deeper and less often. Illianda, once she was sure Steffilka was fine took her over beside Drad and bandaged her wounds and then let her to rest.

She came back over to the rest of the group who were now muttering to each other and talked to Jorrsk in a low voice.

"She will not be able to help you, Jorrsk. She won't wake for several days and even then it may only be for short periods of time. I don't want you to even try and disturb her until I say so." Her face looked incredibly serious and I knew from her tone that the discussion had ended.

Jorrsk nodded to Illianda then came over to me.

"Hey, green. I don't want to stay in a place that could be crawling with falmer. But I can't send my warriors in until they know where they're going. I think you know what I'm getting at. I need you to go deeper into the ruin, and find out where the Falmer are and how many." He said, his voice quiet enough not to be overheard.

"But surely if even Steffilka was overcome by them, how am I meant to escape their notice." I said, a hint of fear touching my soul and voice.

"We don't know why Steffilka was found, for all we know she simply stumbled on a pottery piece and alerted the falmer with that tiny noise and anyway I'm not sending you alone, take one other person with you and then you'll not have as much to worry about." He said and turned away before I had time to object.

Sighing I unslung my pack and dug out the Orcish bow. Stringing it I went over to Shadowlight, whose eyes were fixed on Steffilka.

"Shadowlight," I said snapping his attention away from the prone dark elf. "I need you to come with me; we've been tasked with scouting the rest of this ruin."

Shadowlight's skin visibly paled at the thought and he scowled at me. Nevertheless he still pulled out his bow, a supple imperial bow, not as good as mine but he made up for it by enchanting it with a magic that made the arrow deal an electric shock to its enemies, frying the nerves and dissipating the enemy's Magicka. With that we both went over to the door that Steffilka had gone into in the first place. We drafted in another warrior to help and both drew our bows pointing them at the door. The warrior waited a few moments before opening the door and diving away from it. As it creaked open I could tell the Falmer had been there. The fires that I had lit were now out, and the charcoal was still wet from the water they must've used to douse it, the second thing was the distinct tapping of small feet coming from the far end of the corridor.

In a split second I loosed the arrow in the direction of the tapping feet, nodding at the fact that I heard it bounce off the far wall, the tapping stopped and I knew what was coming, so did Shadowlight. A few seconds later figures were looming at the edge of the darkness, they hovered around the edge of sight not daring to come closer. Then finally one came slightly too close. He dissipated the mist surrounding him and decided he attack where he'd heard the arrow come from. At once Shadowlight let fly his arrow watching it sail through the air and land in the chest of the Falmer. It struggled a bit but then straightened up, looking even angrier. Then the arrow discharged the magical energy, the Falmer snapped his arms and legs out, its head rolling as the large current coursed his body, it was in spasm, the nerves touching the arrow now a conduit for the electrical Magicka to travel to the rest of his body. Finally the spectacle stopped, its chest burnt and it laid back bent straight. The other Falmer got scared by this and retreated well and truly into the gloom. I looked at Shadowlight and with agreement we both dove into the corridor.

The dark was oppressive, the warrior as instructed had closed and barred the door behind us and we knew that lighting torches would be out of the question. We had waited a few minutes for our eyes to get used to the dark then set off. We had no idea was more than a few feet in front of us so we had to creep slowly onwards. After a while, time seemed not to matter down here in the belly of the world, we came across a junction, Shadowlight took to the left while I took the right. I'd not taken five paces when a door loomed out of the gloom. I quietly returned back to Shadowlight who'd found something much more interesting.

There had been a door where Shadowlight was but it had been violently torn away, he was slightly further down and was waving at me frantically. I joined him and looked at what he was pointing at.

There it was, at the end. A faint light. Obviously not Falmer as they had no need of the stuff. Quickly Shadowlight and I went down the corridor towards the light, as we got nearer we started to make other stuff out. It was pale blue, not made by any fire; it was also coming from behind a door which made appear rectangular. When we finally came to the door and by unanimous decision Shadowlight went up beside it and I nocked an arrow into my bow, poising it for use. With a quick nod to each other Shadowlight slowly opened up the door and I slowly enter through it.

It was huge, it wasn't a Dwemer structure, even they weren't as bold to build something this big. This was a cave formed directly under the mountain and the Dwemer had simply smoothed off the rough edges, I scanned around a bit and saw that there was nothing around for miles, and the cave truly did go on for miles. Large toadstools and fungi, some several hundred yards across, lit everything with a dim blue light. So much effort must have been put into this cave as roads crisscrossed the cavern floor, the road made with metal plates. Some had been torn up but the majority was still intact which gave the entire area a grand appearance. I did a final check and saw nothing; looking back I called Shadowlight up and watched his reaction as he saw the visage. I put my bow into my pack and took out a torch which I lit with a piece of tinder. The torch flared up and a yellow glow surrounded me, I started to walk out further into the cavern, randomly striking out on one of the roads, but I had not gained two paces before I heard Shadowlight call behind me.

"We're not meant to go sightseeing Green, we're here to find a Falmer nest, and it ain't here so we got to keep looking." He said, his voice echoing off the stone walls.

I opened my mouth to argue but no words came out. Yes this was a truly wonderful place but I was given orders and I had to keep to them.

With a sigh and a heavy heart I extinguished the torch and followed Shadowlight back into the ruin. When we were back in I quickly navigated us back to the junction and took the exit I went down. We got to the door and took up the familiar position of me with a drawn bow pointing at the door. Shadowlight sneaked past me and whilst flattening himself against the wall knocked open the door with his foot. As the door swung open I found myself staring at a horribly mutilated face with useless eyes and pale skin, with a yell I released the string and watched as the Falmer's face caved in with the force of the blow, as my voice echoed around the corridor a dozen more faces loomed out of the light and began to come towards me, without thinking I started to reload another arrow quickly releasing at another pale body, wait just long enough to see the arrow pierce the frail body, as I reloaded I was vaguely aware that Shadowlight had started firing and the Falmer that I was going to shoot suddenly got thrown back by one of his arrows which exploded in a fiery storm of electrics.

With another arrow I fired at a fleeting shadow only to hear it bounce of the stone floor. The cycle continued for about another minute, every few seconds one of our arrows launched down the corridor, eventually no movement could be seen down the corridor and Shadowlight lowered his bow slightly and walked forward into the darkness.

Also lowering my bow I followed him and we walked past about a dozen bodies with feathered shafts protruding out of random places, as we continued down we came across two sconces, after a bit of an argument we both agreed that we should light them on the grounds that it would deter more Falmer and be a good indication of where we had already been. As they flared into life, we could see the Dwarven surroundings in their glory, large bronze coloured pipes lined the sides and mosaics of silver inlaid with garnets dotted the floor.

We continued down the corridor a little way further before encountering another pair of sconces, after lighting them we saw that they marked the start of a long flight of steps, the bottom hidden with the darkness, nocking an arrow into the bow I started down the steps Shadowlight in tow. As we approached the limit of sight we found another sconce that signalled a change in direction of the stairs as they took a right turn and continued down.

We followed them and finally came to the bottom where another set of heavy dwarven doors stood, with large pots of charcoal instead of sconces. We lit them and both standing beside each other, opened the door.

We opened the door and came out onto a platform with a large path running down in a spiral around the edge of a deep, circular room. The room was well lit, the roof had several large bulbous pods coming down from it on long golden chains the pods themselves emitted a powerful white glow. Towards the bottom of the room where the glow from the bulbs wasn't powerful enough to give adequate lighting a ring of alcoves at chest height had a flame coming from a burner at the bottom, Shadowlight and I saw this from the top peering over the edge. We could also see a very big problem. The Falmer had settled at the bottom and all the way along the path, we counted about eight of their tents on the floor and about another six up along the path. We could also see the Falmer; twenty or so milling around the bottom, many of them clustered around a pen in the centre, from our vantage point we could see two Charus, large bug like creatures in the pen going at each other, evidently for the amusement of the Falmer. Backing away slowly from the visage below Shadowlight and I engaged in low conversation.

"This is the nest then," I said, stating the obvious.

"Yes, we should go back and tell the others," Shadowlight said.

"We can take em'," I said jokingly.

Shadowlight didn't even answer but turned on his heels and walked off towards the door, scrambling after him we left the Falmer to their amusement.

Quickly we backtracked through the now well-lit and warm corridors; Shadowlight also insisted that we light the way to the huge cavern so we did, it took us no more than a few minutes. After we had quickly traversed through the last corridor to the door, we tried to push it open but the other bandit members had clearly decided to bar the door again. We knocked on the door and waited until we heard a scratching on the other side, then the door opened a crack and an eye became visible in the opening, after a second the eye disappeared and the door opened fully.

We walked into the camp and was hit by the waves of heat and smell, I looked in dismay as although the camp looked as if it would fit when we were simply laying out bedrolls it was evident that there were too many people for the space and everyone looked miserable at the lack of space. We picked our way through the mass of people both standing up and sitting down and finally got over to Jorrsk. He was sitting on his bed going through yet more papers and sums, we stood before him and waited for him to finish his calculation. T'ss wasn't far away and was helping him when he got stuck. Finally Jorrsk looked up.

"Report," he said brusquely.

Shadowlight stepped in and said, "We traversed a small part of the ruin and have found out two things, the first is that it is probably the largest Dwemner Ruin in all of Tamriel, perhaps the world. We have found a huge cavern bigger than solitude and the ruin runs deep underground. The second thing is that we found a Falmer nest, smallish but too much for me and Green to handle by ourselves, we have come back to request some more soldiers so we can destroy the camp entirely."

Jorrsk looked slightly happier at the news, "Anything to add Green," he said addressing me.

"No sir," I said "Shadowlight pretty much summed it up."

"Well then, take all the men you need, and get the area cleared quickly," he said and looked down to his papers.

I looked over to Shadowlight and he nodded. We knew who we were taking we had decided on the journey back from the Falmer camp. He walked over to a large group of warriors and I went over to the Marksmen's area, upon arriving everyone perked up. I didn't waste any time and quickly called for Ciara, Draco, Fenter and three other archers from Shadowlight's group. I told them to get ready for an expedition; I didn't quite count on them being ready already.

I led them over to the door and waited for Shadowlight who was engaged in a large discussion, as I had feared many of the warriors who weren't being selected were getting angry at their exclusion from the 'fun'. After a while Shadowlight managed to push past the last warrior and led four of their number from them. I could immediately make out the dark figure of Red and the feminine features of Skyla, as they came closer I could see the other two were Nords, Jerazz and Balmor. Fearing the dirty looks of the warriors and magicians I quickly opened the door and waited for everyone to file out. Once the last person had gone through I looked around and scramble though the portal.

On the other side I saw that everyone had formed a circle and was listening to Shadowlight, who was explaining the plan. Not wanting to appear like a third wheel I went on ahead walking down the corridor hoping to look at the Falmer nest a bit before the other came and destroyed it.

I walked down the corridor and turned right at the junction. I walked down a bit further before walking down the steps and went through the door at the bottom. Entering the large circular room I lowered myself onto my stomach and crawled to the lip of the platform, looking down I could see the Falmer walking around the bottom, the cage with the charus in them was gone and in its place were dead Falmer bodies, each with a feathered shaft protruding from it. My eyes widened and I immediately put my hand on my bow, its grooves giving me comfort. The falmer instead of milling around like they had been whilst the cage fight was going on were now circling the bodies in a weird funeral ritual. I kept watching and eventually the Falmer stopped circling and stood to the edge of the room. A single Falmer came into view carrying a large torch. He solemnly walked up to the bodies and threw the torch onto the body nearest him.

The body immediately caught fire, so fast it must have been aided by oil or something like that. The fire quickly spread. They seemed to have connected each corpse with an invisible trail of oil and there was soon a huge blaze in the centre of the room, the deafening roar of the inferno only topped by the horrid voices of the Falmer. As this was going on I felt a tap on my shoulder, turning around I saw Shadowlight and the others peering over me in wonder.

"What are they doing," whispered Shadowlight.

"They're burning their dead, and performing a ceremony." I whispered back.

"They do that?" asked one in the group.

"Evidently." I said. "We'll have to take out that guy with the torch first. He led the ceremony so is probably a priest or a magician."

"Okay." Said Shadowlight. "We'll hit them when the ritual is complete and their guard is off."

The team set up. The archers including myself were lined up along the edge, poised for action. The warriors were behind us with jugs of pitch and torches. As the flames died down so did the furtive calling of the Falmer. When the din was low enough and the flames had stopped blinding us, I released my bow and sent a steel-tipped arrow into the eye socket of the head Falmer. He slumped over his torch fell onto him, licking at his rudimentary robes. The rest of the archers volleyed their arrows into the room and took out about half a dozen or so. The Falmer started to screech and they quickly found their weapons and began the assent to our group up the rotund sloping pathway. Our group started to fire into the mass, the warriors just standing there psyching themselves up for the fight. The Falmer had gathered into a loose group and were making good pace up the path. There were bodies continually falling and being left behind, some were indeed tripping over these corpses in a way that would've almost been funny if they hadn't been trying to kill us. The group had started at the bottom at about 20 with some stragglers coming up behind them. By the time they crashed into the shield wall of our bandit warriors, there was only eight or so. The warriors roared as they made contact and it was immediately clear who the victor was going to be. A few moments later the warriors were wiping their weapons on the lifeless hulks lying before them. I turned back to the path only to see better armoured and more dangerous Falmer. I was lining up a shot when out of the glimpse of a ruddy red glow, a Falmer who was halfway up seemed to be casting a spell, his hands glowing with a ruddy red light, not flames, something else. Turning around I lined up the shot quickly. Not quickly enough. As I fired the Falmer released control of the spell, rocking backwards on his feet from the recoil. I lost sight of the arrow in a missile of red energy and the light engulfed me and I couldn't see anything.

As the light cleared I felt my chest tighten and my head felt funny, I opened my eyes. There in front of me were my parents or at least their bodies; they had been possessed by dead necromancers at an early age and I only knew my parents as harsh overlords, uncaring for my personal safety.

A red film came over my vision and I felt incredibly angry. I noticed that they both had bows and were readying them for firing, knowing I couldn't beat them to the draw I leapt at them pushing the thing that looked like my mother over the edge of the ledge and I started bashing my dad with a pointed end of the bow.

My dad couldn't withstand such a furious beating and I quickly overpowered him, in any other circumstance I would've kept him alive but I was angry at his betrayal and shot him between the eyes and pushed him over the edge. Satisfied I turned around only for my heartstrings to be pulled again. There in front of me were two men. One looked like the man in Dwarven armour that had been leading the imperials who attacked us. The other was an old man who was my parents hand servant and found delight in lording over me. Funnily they both had bows too and were pointing it at me.

Running, I jumped the old man and gutted him with a small dagger that I had in my boot. He gasped and taking the opportunity I stabbed the dagger into his open mouth. Leaving the hilt protruding out of his mouth I took two arrows from my quiver, turned round and stabbed them both into the eye slits of the helm of the man in Dwarven armour. The man in armour convulsed and released his bow and hit someone behind me.

As I turned around I could see two other people, a man holding the lifeless body of one of Shadowlight's archers. I was about to shoot the man but another faceless demon came up and ran him through with a sword. Again I would've shot him but a falmer beat me to him, hacking him down.

All of a sudden I felt faint and had to shut my eyes for a few moments, when I opened them I saw to my horror that the man I thought was wearing dwarven armour was actually Shadowlight, I looked around and where the old man should've been was Fenter. I backed away in fear of what I had done. The man who was run through with a sword was Draco and the person who had run him through was Red This didn't last long, there was still a battle to be fought, turning around I could see that most of the warriors had ended with the same fate. Killing each other in fervour and no there was only me left. I acted sluggishly, grabbing my bow and an arrow I launched it into the face of the Falmer who was trying to clamber over the now deceased Red. It looked surprised with a feathered head coming out of its chest and gurgled as it fell back down. I stood up proper and started walking down the path. Most had been dispatched from the warriors and the archers when I saw one still moving I put another arrow into it. Walking down I killed about five. The purpose filling my mind was the only thing I had going for me so I wasn't going to let it go. As I came to the bottom I saw two familiar bodies lying side by side on the far side.

It was one of shadowlight's archers and Ciara. Ciara's head was twisted to a weird angle and the archer had an arrow burrowed into his head. I was too afraid to speak; I knelt down beside them and started to push the hair from Ciara's face when her eyes flittered open.

"You killed us," she whispered, her voice gurgling and faint.

No sooner had she said this she sighed, and then was still for a final time. Looking down I could see that she was clutching a pendant of Talos. I couldn't help it. I began to cry. These people had been the closest thing I had ever had to a family, and I had killed them. From in between my sniffling I could hear something, in the distance. It was a guttural sound coming from a Falmer.

I choked back another sob. I couldn't let all these people down by getting myself killed needlessly. I quickly went to the top and gathered all the torches and pitch from my dead friends, using one I set fire to all the tents. The Falmer weren't worth the tinder so I stuffed them into the flames in the alcoves one by one, their bodies shriveling and popping as the flames consumed them. I left the dead bodies of my comrades, not trusting myself to move them from their resting place.

I was finally done with the place. As I surveyed the burning tents and the clouds of ash coming from the alcoves I felt empty. There was no way I could return to the camp with such a heavy burden on me, they would never trust me. They couldn't understand that it was a spell and not me. Taking one last look on the visage, ruined tents and lone fires scattered around the place. I walked away, not back to the camp but further into the ruin not looking back.

Never look back.


	6. Expect the Unexpected

I walked onwards and downwards, a short way downs the corridor that I had been walking I heard more indications of Falmer, it spurred me on to try and find the source to reclaim some dignity by slaughtering every last accursed being, but they eluded me and I was now walking simply to get lost. Right here. Left there. Up at the next ladder. Straight ahead past the junction. There was no pattern to it.

After an indescribable amount of time I felt my feet land on something different that the cold floor of the Dwemer ruin, looking down I saw that it was a sandy soil. Looking up again, now paying attention, I could see that the corridor was starting to turn into a cave. Carrying forth I explored this new avenue with eagerness. It was often told that the Falmer liked damp dark places, and this checked all the boxes. All this time my bow had been in my hand, not poised for use but easily brought to bear if something came at me.

Walking into the cave I carried down it for a while then when it started to open up into a wide basin I instinctively went into a crouch. That was lucky because as I passed a large pile of boulders I saw a large group of Falmer herding some prisoners. These men and women weren't bound or restricted, the Falmer didn't seem particularly wary of the prisoners and the whole thing seemed to be a formality and until you looked closely it was hard to tell if they were prisoners, it was only when you looked at their eyes could you the captivity. So I decided to help them out a little.

Nocking an arrow into my bow I sighted the rearmost Falmer, finding his head I aim lower a bit and let go of the bowstring. The arrow flew through the air caving in the cranium of the Falmer, no one had seen the Falmer as it crumpled to the ground.

Emboldened by my recent success I quickly reloaded and fired into one of the other remaining falmer. This one did attract attention as two of the prisoners gasped at the sight of their fallen overlord. They fell to their knees, one cradling the head of the Falmer and the other applying pressure to the wound. All the other prisoners similarly tried to save the other cretin. The remaining falmer were now running to my location, not waiting another moment I shot another, making it stagger but it then came up again running a little slower. A second arrow came a few seconds later finally putting it down for good. By this time some of the Falmer had gotten close and were milling around trying to find the source of the arrows. I stayed still except from my arm which was pulling another arrow from the quiver, the Falmer had sensed something and as the arrow was halfway from the quiver to the bow I felt a bony hand brush past my chest.

All hell broke loose, immediately the falmer shrieked and started to bring down his sword toward me. I dived out of the way and stabbed the arrow into the calf of the falmer, who proceeded to shriek loudly and limped away to where two humans were waiting. Another few falmer started shooting at me and I dived backwards landing on my back. As I tried to scrabble back onto my feet I saw a falmer come up and bring his sword down to my chest.

The sword slid off my chest and I opened my eyes just in time for the dead figure of the falmer to land on my chest. Looking over his back I saw the dreadfully fletched ends of Falmer arrows protruding from the poor fellow's back. As I looked further I saw the falmer holstering their bows and turning back to the prisoners that were in small clusters around each of the injured falmer. I got up and crouched behind the same pile as I had, and threw the small figure of the dead falmer out. The clatter managed to stir an imperial from the stupor. I watched him walk over, his pace quickening as he recognised the lump as a Falmer. He came up and looked over the body and was about to call out but then saw then saw the Falmer arrows sticking out of it's back. The imperial then used some iniative and began pulling the arrows out of it. When he was fully engrossed in the task I leapt out and tackled him to the ground. Forcing a hand over his mouth I dragged him back to my hiding spot.

"Who are you?" I whispered fiercely into his ear. Then I eased the pressure on his mouth so some noise could escape.

"Lars. Let me –" He said. After I had a name I clamped my hand back on his mouth.

"Well Lars. Mind explaining all that ass-licking back there. You had a perfect chance to escape but, no, you had to go and help them. Them!" I was angry at them for not trying to escape as I would have been able to help them if they had.

"It's not our fault. How were we meant to know you were coming to save us. For all we knew you would've just killed us too. We may be slaves but we've come to accept that. And your not going to ruin my life by forcing me to help you!" Lars's eyes were wide and he genuinely looked terrified at the prospect of not being ruled by Falmer.

"Right, you now have a choice. Wait here and let me kill the rest of the Falmer and help persuade the others that you can trust me. Or, alternatively, you can be gutted here and now. And all the innocent people there will die." I was raising my voice slightly so the weight of my speech would carry better.

Lars paled at the ultimatum. "Fine, I'll stay here. Just make sure you get us to safety." He said.

I lifted my hand from his mouth tentatively, wiping the spittle on my shirt. I slowly pulled myself off Lars and then silently told him to stay quite.

I turned away from him and put an arrow in my bow. Looking down the shaft I could see that the group of people and Falmer were preparing to leave. This was bad. Quickly I sighted an outrider, someone that I couldn't miss and accidently kill a human. Releasing the shot I didn't wait to see it hit home but reached for another arrow, quickly nocking it and releasing the bow. This one I did watch and was satisfied that it landed in the elbow of an archer who was drawing an arrow. The rest of the falmer were once again running toward my position but this time I knew what they would do. Nocking the arrow I fired but this time not at any falmer but at a stone not far from me the arrow clattered into the rock and the Falmer's heads snapped to the sound, instantly veering off to it. This time I fired into the back of the falmer and after a short while three more were dead.

This time I moved, diving into a forward roll I skirted the cave and came up behind them and fired another hail of arrows into them. Now there was only two falmer left, one archer that had the arrow through it's elbow and large imposing one with a badly fitting elven helm. I ran up to the archer and smashed it's face in with my hand that was carrying the bow. Turning around I sized up the Falmer, he was large and heavily built for their race. He had a shield and a mace with the badly fitting helm over his head. It was sizing me up too, eventually he let out a roar and charged. I had already nocked an arrow into my bow and drew the bowstring back, smiling slightly at the small but powerfully built creature charging towards me. Then I released, the arrow shot through the air and time slowed down. I could see the arrow as it hung in the air. I saw the path it would take and gasped as it was going to miss. Quickly I dived into my quiver and dug out another arrow and quickly brought the bow to bear against the Falmer only to find him twitching on the floor, the arrow penetrating his neck.

Sheathing my bow I walked over to Lars to find him quaking with terror. He had been very close to the Falmer at one point and there was even one who had been thrown by the force of the arrow to his feet.

"You OK?" I said as I came over stepping with deliberation on the dead Falmer.

"They're…They're dead?" he said. His voice scarcely more than a whisper.

"Yep, every last one of them. Now remember our agreement. You need to go and talk some sense into that wailing rabble." I said, looking over my shoulder to see the humans milling around the dying archer.

"Um…ok…just a minute," he said. His voice started to sound less strained and the colour returning his cheeks.

I left him and, after stashing my weapon in a small alcove and wiping the worst of the blood and sweat off me, went to introduce myself to the crowd.

"Ho, friends, don't look so glum, you're free." I said, projecting my voice and trying to make it sound confident and friendly. "I'm from a small group that has recently moved into this ruin and I personally didn't like how those Falmer were treating you. You're free now to do whatever you want," I never was a good public speaker.

The group had looked up when I had started speaking and were looking more and more angry as I continued. By the end they all looked as if they wanted to kill me.

"You murdered them," one cried out.

"You have no right, and what's this about freedom? HA HA" another called out.

"I know you've had a rough time but these things had captured you and made you do their bidding. I don't know about you but I wouldn't put up for that." I said rising to their bait.

A dozen more voices exploded at once eager to get their word heard. I didn't know what to do. I'd never heard of prisoners being so in love with their captors before and it was kind of scary.

"ENOUGH," A loud voice behind me called, "Can't you see inside yourself and remember when we were free, playing in the juniper fields and trying to hide from one another. Balof, did you not have a sweetheart that you never shut up about. Helda, have you thought nothing of your mother whom you said baked the best honey nut treats in Tamriel. All of you have something to go back to. Somewhere where you'll be treated as civilised beings. As equals. Why then must you continue to try and appease these Falmer overlords who are dead. DEAD! We are free and we have this man to thank for that." Getting a good look I saw that it was Lars and his speech definitely had the right effect.

I walked back to the alcove and retrieved my weapon. When I turned around I saw a load of expectant faces looking back at me.

"What? The exit is over there. Follow my footsteps until you come to a large circular room. Go to the top and follow the lights. From there you'll find the rest of my group. Tell them what happened here, I wish I could go with you but I am no longer welcome there." I said all this with a heavy heart, thinking about Illianda and the others, especially how they would react to me telling them it was me who killed their friends.

"But what if there are other Falmer? What if we get lost? What if we can't get out?" A few people called out at once their faces desperate with fear etched into every feature.

"Take some weapons from the dead Falmer. You'll be able to deal with them, being such a large group. If you follow my footprints I can guarantee you won't get lost. And I will assure you there is a way out." I said all of this quickly, now irritated by their lack of gratefulness. I had helped them and they were just giving me more problems.

"You're sure you're not going to come with us?" Lars asked. His voice taking on a lulling tone that was incredibly calming.

Shaking my head to rid the thought of going back with them that Lars had planted in my mind. "NO. I told you I can't go back. Now leave, before more Falmer come." With that I walked leaving them to their troubles.


	7. The End

Further down the cave, it split off into two tunnels. On a whim I went down the left, calmly walking down it, bow strapped to my pack. I walked along the tunnel which was unusually straight and level. After a few hundred yards the tunnel started to angle down. I found it much more difficult to keep my footing on what was becoming a very steep incline, I was using the rocks that protruded out of the ground and walls to keep my hold but it didn't last and after shifting my weight onto my left foot, the rock underneath gave way and I was sent tumbling down the slope, being battered all the way down.

When I stopped I saw I was at the bottom of the incline. I also saw that there was no way of getting back up and I was well and truly stuck in the cave. Sighing heavily I turned round to see where the cave had taken me. There was a little bit of a tunnel ahead but after that the walls simply disappeared. Walking slowly toward the end of the tunnel I saw that it gave way to a huge room. It was almost spherical with the ground being the only straight edge. The far end of the room was lost in the gloom and I was about to light a torch to see if I could see it with the extra light. I got the torch out and was about to strike the flint and light it when I saw something that took my breath away.

On the floor of the room were structures, Falmer tents and houses. Doing a double take I immediately threw the torch away and crouched down, instinctively backing to the wall. The settlement was massive with houses to hold at least two hundred Falmer in it. I slid around the cave wanting to find another way out. I had to warn the others near the surface that they had no hope of defeating them. But as I got about halfway round I saw the only exit; a large cave tunnel with a small stream running through the middle.

Cursing under my breath I backed away from it. It was crawling with Falmer; there were many of them using it as a thoroughfare to some other part of the ruin. There was also a garrison of Falmer warriors there to guard the entrance and question anyone who came in.

So there was no way out. The way I got in was impassable and the other exit was better guarded than Castle Dour. I went back to the tunnel and lay in it, wracking my brains for something that I could do to get out of this predicament.

After an immeasurable amount of time I stood up knowing exactly what I was going to do. I was still crouching and crept over to one of the tents far away from the exit. Once I got to it I looked inside. It was empty. There was a small fireplace with embers in it and a chest. At the far end there was also a pile of hay that the inhabitants must use as a bed. Taking a torch from my pack I put it on the embers of the fire, a smile creeping across my face as the torch lit up. Then I got the torch and put it in a position so it was touching both the hay and the tent wall. Quickly I left the tent and moved onto the next. This one did have a Falmer in it but luckily he was fast asleep. Taking my dagger I thrust the dagger into the gullet of the Falmer and twisted, if the Falmer had wanted to say something he now couldn't as blood sprayed out of the wound and a large pool was forming with bubbles in it. After this gory display I quickly lit another torch and again set it down so it would burn both the tent and the pile of hay.

Leaving that tent I quickly traversed the camp so I was in the middle of it and saw a huge tent. Going inside I quickly realised this was a mistake. The tent had a dozen Falmer in it, each sitting on a high stool. At the moment they were preoccupied with a single Falmer who was in manacles. On either side were guards with weapons poised.

I tried to back out but as I was leaving one of the guards spotted me. Giving a large bark I now found every single face looking at me. Panicking, I ran out of the tent only for all the guards to start giving chase, whilst running I managed to light another torch and threw it into a passing tent. The guards didn't even falter.

After running for a while, taking random turns and making snap-decisions I realised that the entire camp was searching for me, at one point I saw a group of thirty run past searching for me. My first thought was to head back to the small tunnel where I had first come in but as I neared it I saw about thirty or more Falmer guarding it. They were in a double semicircle around the entrance so the rest could react quickly to anything. I quickly switched direction.

I was trying to make sure there wasn't any Falmer behind me when I felt the warmth. Looking up I saw that I had entered the section that I had set fire to. Eight tents were now fully ablaze with the ash of another behind it. That way was definitely out. I was running out of places to go. All the Falmer were searching for me, they may be blind but there were enough of them to make them dangerous.

Finally I came to a decision. I would try and break out. Run full pelt at the entrance and try and lose them in the darkness of the ruins. With that firmly in mind I started to traverse the huge cave. Finally I caught sight of the entrance and gasped. There were probably a hundred Falmer there, each of them armed and each in a strategic position and backed up by several comrades. As I watched them I saw a group of twenty Falmer come up to the force. They were let in and the leader of the group walked up to a large and imposing Falmer. They exchanged noises and the smaller Falmer bowed and led his group back into the settlement. I was lost at what to do. There was too many, too concentrated. I couldn't slip past them. That would require a miracle. I was staring at the group guarding the door for a long time, thinking of someway that I could get past them.

My thoughts were interrupted by jubilant cries behind me. Spinning around I saw a large group of Falmer, weapons out to attack. Panicking I ran away for them, directly toward the exit and the Falmer guarding it. Seeing them I checked my run, turning so I was parallel to the exit. I ran as fast as I could and then randomly darted back into the mass of tents. The group were hot on my heels and I was exhausted from the continued running. As I slowed down I unslung my bow and nocked an arrow into it, firing I saw a lead Falmer fall over. I kept firing whilst backing up, my desperation making me incredibly efficient.

Eventually they caught up with me, I had fired a dozen arrows into the group but it wasn't enough. Most of the Falmer kept running at me but a few held back and took out their bows. As I fired the last arrow I threw my bow to the ground. Reaching down I grabbed a sword that was being held by the Falmer that I had shot last. Holding it up I just had enough time to block a ferocious downward swipe. My arm was jarred and I leapt back. The Falmer was quick to follow up with a swipe across my torso. I felt a red hot line where the sword made contact and my hand went to it instinctively. Feeling the red liquid flowing out of my chest I got angry and went on the offensive, taking the sword I brought it down on the Falmer's head, his block proving ineffective against the power of my blow. Bending down momentarily to take his sword I readied myself for the next one. I wasn't kept waiting too long.

Two more came bounding up, one with an axe and shield the other with an iron great sword. I dived underneath a clumsy swing made by the Falmer with the great sword and stabbed him with both swords in the heart. Pulling the swords out I tried to avoid a swipe by the remaining Falmer only I was too late and I felt the slimy metal of the Falmer war axe bite into my right shoulder. This time the wound sapped my strength rather than giving me strength and I just managed to dispatch the remaining Falmer with a weak swipe into his kidneys. Dropping the sword in my right arm, as I couldn't feel it anymore I turned to face the rest of the Falmer. I saw that they had all retreated behind the archers. Steeling myself, I tried to run toward them my remaining sword up and pointing towards them but my strength was wavering and the run turned into a lumbering hop. And the sword point kept lowering until it was down by my side again.

Panting, I only managed to cover half the distance before the first arrow was fired. Luckily it went over my shoulder. The second arrow was a bit better aimed and it when in my left thigh. Screaming with pain I fell over, too weak to continue. With my sword forgotten I was holding my leg trying to ignore the pain. I was crying with the pain and the hopelessness of it all and through the blurriness of the tears I saw a large outline approach. I tried to reach out to it but as soon as my hand lifted off the floor the outline shoved a sharp point into my chest.

An explosion of pain blossomed from where the point penetrated and it was so much that I couldn't speak or make a sound. The vision dimmed in my eyes and I couldn't see anything much. I was vaguely aware that I wasn't breathing anymore or that my heart wasn't beating. But the pain had faded and I closed my eyes in peace.


End file.
